Methods and systems for performing optical measurements of semiconductor structures while modulating both an electric field within one or more structures under measurement and the measurement light employed to measure the one or more structures are presented herein. Spectroscopic ellipsometry, spectroscopic reflectometry, and angle resolved spectroscopic reflectometry measurements are enhanced by modulation of the electric field of the structures under measurement. The modulation of the electric field changes the dielectric function of the materials under measurement. Measurements are performed with an enriched data set including measurement signals collected from one or more structures under time varying optical and electric field conditions. This reduces parameter correlation among floating measurement parameters and improves measurement accuracy. Differences between frequencies of optical modulation and electric field modulation increase the contrast within the one or more structures under measurement, which, in turn, increases measurement accuracy with reduced computational effort.

A method for determining an optical constant of a material includes: acquiring ellipsometric parameters; obtaining a optical constant of the material corresponding to the ellipsometric parameters by a machine learning model; the machine learning model including a mapping relationship between the ellipsometric parameters and the material optical constant of the material corresponding to the ellipsometric parameters. The method uses the machine learning model to implement an automatic fitting of ellipsometric parameters. In the method, the optical constant of the material is calculated by a machine learning model, which no longer depends on the experiences of the experimenters, thereby reducing requirements for the operator, accelerating the fitting of the data curve when calculating the optical constants of the material and improving the operation efficiency.

An ellipsometer capable of improving a throughput calculating ellipsometry coefficients (ψ, Δ) even when performing measurement with a combination of a light source having a wide wavelength band and a spectrometer, and an apparatus for inspecting a semiconductor device is e hid g the ellipsometer may be provided. The ellipsometer includes a polarizing optical element unit for separating reflected light into two polarization components having polarization directions that are orthogonal to each other in a radial direction with respect to an optical axis of an optical system of the reflected light, an analyzer unit for transmitting components of a direction different from the polarization directions of the two polarization components to make the two polarization components interfere with each other, and to form an interference fringe in a form of a concentric circle, an image detector for detecting the interference fringe, and processing circuitry for calculating ellipsometry coefficients from the interference fringe.

The disclosure relates to a method for measuring a dielectric tensor of a material. Firstly, a partial conversion matrix T.sub.p and a transmission matrix T.sub.t are determined by a predetermined initial value ε(E) of the dielectric tensor of the material to be measured, thereby obtaining a transfer matrix of an electromagnetic wave on a surface of the material to be measured by the partial conversion matrix T.sub.p, the transmission matrix T.sub.t, and an incident matrix T.sub.i, a theoretical Mueller matrix spectrum MM.sub.Cal(E) of the material to be measured is determined by the transfer matrix T.sub.m. A fitting analysis is performed on the theoretical Mueller matrix spectrum MM.sub.Cal(E) and a measured Mueller matrix spectrum MM.sub.Exp(E) of the material to be measured to obtain the dielectric tensor of the material to be measured.

A method and device of thin film spectroellipsometric imaging are disclosed. The device comprises an illuminator to direct light through a polarization generator system toward an extended area of a sample; an imaging system to form images; a detection system to record in a plurality of spectral channels; a computer to display and analyze the recorded images; and at least one reference phantom with known optical properties to replace the sample for calibration. The method comprises directing light from an illuminator through a polarization generator system toward an extended area of a sample having a geometrical shape; forming images with an imaging system; adjusting a polarization generator system and a polarization analyzer system to obtain a series of polarimetric setups; recording the images with a detection system in a plurality of spectral channels; replacing the sample with at least one reference phantom; and analyzing the recorded images with a computer.

Provided is a pupil ellipsometry measurement apparatus configured to measure an object, the pupil ellipsometry measurement apparatus including a stage configured to support the object to be measured, a light source unit configured to generate and output light, an irradiation optical system configured to focus the light from the light source unit on the object, a first detector configured to detect an image of reflected light from the object on an imaging plane, a self-interference generator (SIG) configured to generate self-interference with respect to the reflected light, a second detector configured to detect a hologram image of interference light of the SIG on a pupil plane, and a processor configured to reconstruct reflectance information based on the hologram image, and measure the object.

A self-contained metrology wafer carrier systems and methods of measuring one or more characteristics of semiconductor wafers are provided. A wafer carrier system includes, for instance, a housing configured for transport within the automated material handling system, the housing having a support configured to support a semiconductor wafer in the housing, and a metrology system disposed within the housing, the metrology system operable to measure at least one characteristic of the wafer, the metrology system comprising a sensing unit and a computing unit operably connected to the sensing unit. Also provided are methods of measuring one or more characteristics of a semiconductor wafer within the wafer carrier systems of the present disclosure.

An imaging assembly of a spectral imaging ellipsometer includes an analyzer configured to polarize reflected light reflected from a sample surface, an imaging mirror optical system disposed on an optical path of the reflected light passing through the analyzer and including a first mirror having a concave surface and a second mirror having a convex surface, and a light detector configured to receive light passing through the imaging mirror optical system to collect spectral data. The reflected light is firstly reflected by the first mirror, the firstly reflected light is secondarily reflected by the second mirror and travels toward the first mirror again, and then thirdly reflected by the first mirror to be imaged on a light receiving surface of the light detector.

System Stage, and Optical Hall Effect (OHE) system method for evaluating such as free charge carrier effective mass, concentration, mobility and free charge carrier type in a sample utilizing a permanent magnet at room temperature.

A system for measuring a thickness of a coating arranged on an anode substrate includes an optical measurement system configured to transmit a light signal having a known first polarization toward the anode substrate through the coating such that the light signal is reflected from the surface of the anode substrate, a detection module positioned to receive the reflected light signal and configured to determine a second polarization of the reflected light signal that is different from the first polarization and measure a polarization difference between the first polarization and the second polarization, and a measurement module configured to receive the measured polarization difference, calculate the thickness of the coating based on the measured polarization difference, and generate an output based on the calculated thickness.